This week, Aries Mercury and Gemini Venus are under stress. The Taurus Sun takes a momentarily rough t-square from Monday’s Aquarius Moon and Jupiter but goes on to excellent support throughout the rest of the week.

Monday’s Moon in Aquarius squares both Jupiter and the Sun. There’s a tendency to feel like you’re playing catch-up to the options pinging at you. Distance yourself from the feeling that you’re missing out on something. If you miss the mark, that wasn’t your mark. Experiment a bit. Don’t be afraid to drop one project to pick up another if the first isn’t working. But avoid a scramble or a pout. It’s not personal.

Early Monday, Mercury squares Pluto. Old issues can bubble up in frustrating ways. Obsessive thinking or control arguments are possible. This comes on the heels of Venus squaring Neptune. We’ve all been a bit disillusioned by something. Consider the impact of your words before you speak. Consider this of others if they wound you. Wounding words come from a place of hurt. If you have something possibly painful to say, can it wait for a better moment? If not, do so with considerate gravity.

Tuesday the Aquarius Moon sextiles Mercury then goes on to sextile Uranus. The Sun makes its exact opposition to Jupiter. With Mercury’s square to Pluto past exact, the Moon’s touch is cooling, intellectually satisfying, then electric and lightening. We’re past the pop and more likely to be excited by multiple options. At the end of the day, the Moon moves to Pisces.

Mercury spends the rest of the week moving into square with Capricorn Mars. The mind is moving fast while the body is on cruise control. There’s considerable inertia to overcome. It may take some patience to work out the difference.

Wednesday the Pisces Moon sextiles Saturn. Watery moods find a rudder here, some ballast. Just off its square to Pisces Neptune, Venus finds some depth in a quincunx to retrograde Scorpio Jupiter. There’s something to touch on that brings hope, due to the flow created by the Neptune-Jupiter trine. Whatever desire was thwarted, it dissolved for a reason. There’s more… somewhere; there’s more to the story, believe.

Overnight Wednesday and on into Thursday, the Pisces Moon highlights this lopsided triangle as Venus pulls in Pluto by quincunx (exact Friday). Subconscious need is a powerful driving force. BUT, there are plenty of fish in the sea. Try not to get fixated on catching one fish in one way at one particular time.

It takes the one bird in the hand is better than two in the bush maxim to another level. One bird in each hand is enough to handle for now. Consider the wisdom of reaching for a third.

All week long, the Sun moves toward trine with Pluto. Thursday, the Pisces Moon hits their midpoint, sextiling both. Feel your own innate power flowing back to you. There’s an opportunity to fill your own cup with faith in the solid nature of your own existence. The Moon goes on to sextile Mars. Actions can be more satisfying than words.

Friday the Moon moves to Aries, over Chiron, and into square with Saturn. That’s bumpy but transitory and good practice. It’s going to happen every month for a while. The Sun-Pluto trine perfects as does the Venus-Pluto quincunx. Venus rules the Taurus Sun, exactly 30 degrees ahead, semi-sextile. Regardless of how many birds you have, in the hand-bush-wherever, what you desire is part of the power of who you are. Desire itself is a resource. Let it draw you into your own power. Not yet having something you consider necessary to your sense of self is no measure of who you are.

Slow down and evaluate the quality of your desire. What is best is not what is most available, most entertaining, or most abundant. It is what is most transformative – both in the getting and in the eventual having. Transform your desires phoenix style. Let only the best rise from the ashes.